Antenna and Other Experimentation

Greg Ordy, W8WWV

In the early days of amateur radio, most amateurs built, and often designed, all aspects of their station. The transmitter, the receiver, and the antennas. Over the years, companies have sprung up that produce just about everything a radio station could possibly need. Now, all you need is money (Ok, some time and space does help).

While some amateurs still enjoy designing and building transmitters and receivers, most just buy a commercially-built radio. Given the level of miniaturization, computer integration, and overall quality, it would be difficult for the average amateur to build a similar unit at anywhere near the cost.

Antennas, however, still remain an area of active experimental design and homebrew construction.

With the introduction of antenna modeling software, it is now possible to investigate antenna designs without resorting to their construction. This is not a substitute for building an antenna, but it helps suggest more effective antennas, and estimates of their performance.

The following links take you to antenna designs that have caught my interest. I do not claim that any of these antenna designs are original. In exploring antenna design, I have been particularly influenced by the following:

  1. EZNEC. Antenna modeling software produced by Roy Lewallen, W7EL. I am now using Version 3.0. Unless otherwise indicated, I used EZNEC to prepare all antenna analysis information contained in my pages.
  2. Antenna and Techniques for Low-Band DXing, by John Devoldere, ON4UN (the Third Edition is titled ON4UN's Low-Band DXing). A tremendous amount of information covering just about all aspects of low-band radio operation, not just antennas. Available from the ARRL. By the way, the ARRL Antenna Handbook is another great reference.
  3. The web pages of L.B. Cebik, W4RNL. A collection of presentations on a number of antenna topics.
  4. The web pages of Tom Rauch, W8JI. Lots of very good low band information.

 

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Notes:

General:

Lower Bands (160, 80, 40 meters):

Upper Bands (20, 17, 15, 12, 10 meters):

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Last update: Friday, September 02, 2011 09:17:28 AM
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